THE DEBATE: Should we worry about Australian cricket?

With Steve Smith and David Warner banned, Cricket Australia in a state of transition and the Test and one-day teams in poor form, our panel discuss how bad things really are Down Under

YES

Trent Woodhill

Steve Smith’s mentor, who has coached New Zealand, Pakistan, Royal Challengers Bangalore and others

The system is to blame. I was on a radio show and the presenter asked me: “Well, who heads the system?” But the system hasn’t got a face, really. It’s down to culture.

The narrative of Australian cricket is still dominated by the Chappells and the World Series Cricket guys on one hand, and the blokes from Steve Waugh’s great team who dominated the 1990s.

But these blokes are all out of touch. Cricket has completely changed since the IPL. There’s no point some bloke from the 1990s coming in and trying to restore ‘the Australian Way’. It’s gone. It’s broken. It doesn’t work anymore. Trying to do things ‘the Australian Way’ screwed three players’ careers.

A lot of ex-players, who didn’t play T20, say that Australia and state players should be playing grade cricket. Well, there just isn’t time. And when I came though club cricket, there were lots of 35 to 40-year-olds in the game that I learned from. But now a lot of that age bracket have to work on Saturdays, so grade cricket is dominated by young men. How do they learn?

^{Australia head coach Justin Langer}

In state cricket there’s a lot of mistrust and anger with the way older players have been phased out. That’s been Greg Chappell’s initiative. We have 18 and 19-year-olds being fast-tracked. But why would you want to disregard the knowledge that older players have? The worst indictment is that only 24 per cent of players filled in their surveys for the Longstaff Review.

The states do all the Talent ID and coaching, then a player gets snapped up by the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane. The NCC is the first thing I’d get rid of. It’s a huge white elephant. It’s an indoor centre in Brisbane, a city where it’s blazing hot and it barely rains. That money should have been spent improving facilities around Australia. The NCC is full of ex-player coaches and strength and conditioning coaches. It should be a place where the states go to push themselves to the next level, but it’s not. I’ve never gone away from there having learned anything. I’ve always come away feeling bitter and angry.

Under national performance manager Pat Howard and selectors Trevor Hohns and Greg Chappell, information got sent out to all the states to follow. So we have [batting coach] Graeme Hick telling everyone where to put their top hand. This is why Australia are great at home, but generally rubbish abroad. But what about if someone in Tasmania uncovers a great approach to deal with the spinning ball? We should let innovation flourish. But if you have a different idea you get shouted down.

All this upheaval has been waiting to happen for years. So when people say ‘let the dust settle’ or ‘there’s been enough bloodletting’, I say, ‘let’s carry on, there’s more to come’. Otherwise all this stuff will come up again in a few years’ time.

Australian cricket is going through a period of transition

NO

Viv Richards

Former West Indies captain

Does it concern me? Not at all. They have had their fair share of controversy over the last year or two. Their cricket was so rich, now it is at an all-time low... not just the cricket side of things, but their win-at-all-costs approach... that to me is something they should look to get in order now.

Desmond Haynes

Former West Indies opening batsman

It’s a bit like West Indies’ situation now. I know a lot of people will like the situation West Indies are in because we were so dominant for so many years, but I am not concerned about Australia because I feel they have a better cricket programme than us. They also have more continuity and forward planning. So they will always bounce back.